One of the common mistakes made by people starting to dive deeper into wine is to overly simplify wine by associating a style of wine with a country. This can sometimes work, but in a very broad sense.

For example, California reds tend to show many of the same characteristics — very ripe fruit, soft tannins, low acidity, and when compared to red wines from around the world, a touch more residual sugar. After that, it’s a question of nuance between regions, like Sonoma versus Napa, or sub-regions like Napa, Mount Veeder versus Oakville.

If that strikes you, too, as confusing, I’m not even clear on those finer distinctions. That’s a personal project for this coming year as I will be heading to California to drill down into this subject.

In California and many other new-world wine countries, the reason that generalities can work is that all the regions grow pretty well the same grape varieties. In Europe, this is not the case.

In France, for example, the distance between Dijon to Lyon is roughly 200 km, taking you from Pinot Noir in Burgundy to Gamay in Beaujolais and ending with Syrah in the northern Rhône.

While one can make a case that there are similarities between Burgundy’s Pinot Noir and Gamay in Beaujolais, the differences between Burgundy and the northern Rhône are dramatic.

From Bordeaux to Toulouse is just over 200 km. Between those two cities, you pass through a number of different regions and over 10 different red grape varieties. While the two cabernets and Merlot in Bordeaux produce finessed wines, the inky and rich wines of Cahor’s Malbec and Madiran’s Tannat are so much more powerful. In between, you have the lighter reds of Marcillac (Fer Servadou) and Fronton (Négrette).

Why don’t the French, as well as other European producers, plant the same grape varieties everywhere? While soil types, precipitation and the altitude of the vineyards factor in, as well as historical and cultural reasons, the main reason is temperature.

Just within Bordeaux, you can see this in action. The left bank’s two main sub-regions are the Médoc and Haut-Médoc. Why do they grow predominately cabernet sauvignon while the right bank, with Pomerol and St-Émilion, is known more for Merlot and Cabernet Franc?

The left bank is close to the Atlantic Ocean, which moderates temperature and thus has a longer growing season. The right bank, because it doesn’t have the same proximity to the Atlantic, has a shorter growing season, so they need grapes that will ripen faster. This subtle change happens within a space of under 50km.

So while it may be convenient to believe that you like a country’s wines, it’s more important to figure out which part of said country is producing those wines.